The Last of Central America

---

The border crossing into Panama was a bit sketchy. You had to cross this rickety old wooden train bridge that looked like it would collapse at ant minute. Not sure how long it is but it seemed to go for ever! It was rainy so the patchy, rotten rood was super slick. AS I watched people slip on the wood, I tried to be super careful as you all know what a clutz I am! Well, a little more than half way down I slip and fall. Luckly I did not fall through the "gaurd rail" on the side, but as you read on FB, my beloved Kleen Kanteen did fall through at meet its eventual demise. Shortly there after a giant semi comes driving over the bridge as I'm a bit shaken from my fall and my flip flop had a blow out as a result of my fall, I became a little panicy. I knew this was the end, I was going to get run over by a semi on an old bridge while crossing the border to Panama! Well I made it over but just barely!
So I took a bus from the border to Bocas del Torro, wich is an archipelago (chain of islands). I went to Bocas town on the main island to wait for my friend Anna to show up the next day. I had heard the Bocas was a party place but man I had no idea. The first day I stop at a dive shop to ask about possible dives and meet some cool people and get some info. At my hotel and around town, I ran into alot of people from my last hotel in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica (sometimes the gringo trail is a blessing for a solo traveler). So needless to say that night we all went out dancing till the we hours of the morning!
A few hours after I went to be, I woke up and walked to the airport to meet Anna! AH, it felt so good to see another face from home after having just left Forest, Cher and my mom a few weeks before. As she had just traveled for about 24 hours, I took her back to the hotel so she (and I) could nap.
When she woke up we went in search of food and stopped back by the dive shop and arranged a night dive. I cant remember if we did it that night or the next (this is why I should be better about keeping up with my blog) I do know that we went to a a beautiful beach during the day then went diving a wreck at night. THis was the first dive that was hard for me. I was improperly weighted (most likely because my wetsuit was way too big) and had a hard time staying down so it wasnt super enjoyable.
Ok again as I am writing this almost 2 months after it happened Im a bit fuzzy on the order of things in Bocas but I know I had a great time. We did another dive that was much better where I saw lots of fish, a shark, and many other things but a did run out of air. I went out dancing every night and during the day we took water taxis out to different beaches and spent our days swimming.
We were thinking about leaving Bocas and heading to the Pacific coast but Anna got commisioned to paint a picture for the dive shop so we stayed a couple more days before heading to Boquette for a few days.
Boquette is a cute little town in the mountains. After searching for a hostel in the pissing down rain we finally landed at one right near the park where a guy I knew from Costa worked. THere is a reason Boquette is so green....it rains ALOT!!!!! Our first night Anna attempted the 12 hour round trip night hike up the volcano, I chose to stay in and catch up on sleep. But the next day we had a great time at an animal resque preserve where we got to play with the animals! Then we went to some realy nice hot springs, where our super nice taxi driver acompanied us. It was a beautiful hike out to the four hot springs. As we warmed our bodies in the pools, there was a light drizzle falling on us as we looked out at trees and fields. Afterwards we rinsed off in the river! THe next day, I explored the town while Anna went zip lining. As I had just done this in Costa Rica, I wanted to save my money for new tours/adventures. She had a great time! But sadly, it was also her last day in Panama. That evening she took a bus to Panama City to fly home.
I was surprised at how lonely I felt after she left. I am enjoying my adventure but sometimes it does get lonely.
Two days later I hiked to some beautiful waterfalls but man, the last fall was hard to get to. We apparently were the first grroup to hike it, normally they just go to the first 2 falls. Anywho, to get to these falls we hiked up a muddy unmantained trail for what seemed like for ever but was probably less than an hour. But we had to hoist ourselves over rocks and up the trail using vines and tree trunks, sliping and sliding back down a few times. My arms hurt worse than my legs by the end of this hike! I wish I had taken pics of the trail! But we made it!
I think I stayed one more night in Boquete and then took off to Boca Brava, an island on the Pacific side of Panama. While sitting having a drink at the hotel bar in Boca Brava, my friend Sara from Boquette walked in! We spent the next 5 days hanging on this beautiful island. THere wasnt much to the island. THere was our hotel wich overlooked the ocean and about 15 private homes (most of which nobody was living in at the moment) We spent everyday hanging at the beach and playing in the water. We met a local guy (well hes from Bremuda but lives there now) who took us out on his boat almost daily to other beaches or just to drink and chill while watching the sunset in the ocean. I realy enjoyed Boca Brava but it was just one island in a chain of many. THey say there are over 360 islands in this little archipelago, nearly one for every day of the year. It was a beautiful area. Most of the islands are unpopulated but many have a single sport fishing lodge on them. Just a super chill area.
After Boca Brava it was time to head to Panama City to wait for my friend Serena to show up so we could find a sail boat heading to Colombia! So I find a hostel in a cute area and start my reaearch on boats. I pretty much chilled out my first day there but the next day I went and walked around the old city, wich is all ruins. After Captain Morgan looted the town in 1671, the govenor ordered the whole town burnt to the ground. All that is left is some archways and foundations and a few wall fragments. It is odd to see the new modern buildings smack dab up against the ruins!
The next day I went to see the locks of the Panama canal! Wow! What an amazing thing to see. I got to watch a cargo ship go through the locks.
Anywho, that afternoon/evening Serena got to town and it was so good to see her. Our first night we jsut chilled as she was quite tired from here whirlwind trip to Panama via a move from SoCal to NorCal with a stop in NYC for a few days before getting to Panama. So Serena hung out for a bit and then went to bed as some of went out dancing. The next day we end up going to mall ( they had a camping store there and I needed a rain cover for my back pack) and saw Pirates of the Carribean 4 in 3D for about $6 each and pop corn was only $3! It had been months since Id been to a movie theatre and I was loving it!
We soon set our sites to finding a boat and with in 2 days we had booked ourselves on the 54 foot sail boat called Gypsy Moth! A couple of days later we were to set sail, but we had to leave Panama City a 5AM to get to Puerto Venir ( the port we would be leaving from). So we decided it would be best to stay up till 5 dancing and that is just what we did!
After a crazy bus ride to the port we made it to the port and then onto a dingy we made it to the Gypsy Moth where we met our fabulous captain Sim, his lovely wife Amy and their adorable 9 month old baby Haly as well as the 4 other people we would be sailing with.
We spent the next 3 days chilling on the San Blas islands, each day moving to a different area. OMG! The San Blas islands are the most beautiful islands I have ever seen! Snow white sandy beaches, lined with palm trees surrounded by a crystal clear blue carribean sea! I snorkeled and swam every day! I checked out 2 ship wrecks and met some Kunas ( the people indiginous to the islands), basicly i was in paradice. However after 3 days it was time to hit the open sea! For two days we sailed without sight or sound of land untill we reached Cartagena, Colombia!
And that is the end of my Central American adventures! The next entry will begin my adventures in South America!

---